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Joey de Leon
Jose Maria Ramos de Leon, Jr., better known as Joey de Leon, is a Filipino television host, musician, comedian, actor, newspaper columnist, and disc jockey. Joey is one of the three pioneer hosts of Eat Bulaga! ''who still remains part of the show up to this day along with Tito Sotto and Vic Sotto. Together, Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon make up the iconic comic triumvirate known as TVJ. Among the TVJ, Joey is known for his wit, green jokes, and sarcasm. He is also one of the most prolific writers in the multimedia industry, penning a number of hit songs that many now consider as OPM classics, notably Cinderella's "Ang Boyfriend Kong Baduy" and VST and Co.'s "Ipagpatawad Mo" and "Awitin Mo, Isasayaw Ko". He also writes columns for The Philippine Star and formerly Manila Bulletin. His creative mind is able to coin words that stir funny thoughts, coming up with the titles of various segments as well the title of the noontime show itself, thus earning him the nickname "Henyo Master" of the Philippine entertainment industry.Vic Early life and education Jose Maria Ramos de Leon, Jr. was born on 14 October 1946 in Manila, Philippines. Joey is the second child of Jose Seoane de Leon and Emma Manahan Ramos. His parents separated at a young age. At the age of three, his father moved to Madrid, Spain for good and decided to start a new family. He grew up mainly in a noisy neighborhood of G. Tuazon St., Sampaloc, Manila. His paternal grandfather was the first mayor of Malolos, Bulacan. Because he was fond of drawing, he took up architecture, first at the University of the East, then at National University. After two years, he dropped out of college because he wasn't keen on math. Prior to ''Eat Bulaga! A prank that started it all After dropping out of college and then taking up several jobs, he entered the world of local entertainment in the 1968 with the help of his best friend, Freddie Villareal, whose mother was the dressmaker of singer-actress Carina Afable. One day, Joey got the chance to go to the newly-opened broadcasting center of ABS-CBN. Freddie's mother has asked her son to deliver a dress for the singer-actress. Joey came along. When they got there, they didn’t immediately get an audience with Carina Afable. To while the time away, they visited the other studios and chanced upon an audition for disc jockeys. Without his knowledge, his prankster friend Freddie submitted his name to the guard on duty to give to the audition master. Since he wasn’t after the job, he was cool and relaxed when he was handed a script to read by the people running the auditions. Also, he knew how to modulate his voice since he had an oratorical background in college. His audition went well, thus launching his career in radio broadcasting. From radio to television As a radio disc jockey and announcer, Joey worked for twelve radio stations in a span of five years, including all stations owned by ABS-CBN as well as other stations such as the Kanlaon Broadcasting System (KBS), Mareco Broadcasting Network, and DZSA (1230 kHz). While working as a DJ, he met Tito Sotto, who was then doing a radio tour with his combo band Tilt Down Men. His stint as a radio DJ gave him a keen sense of what people liked, what clicked with them, what didn't click. And all proved invaluable in his next careers as gig writer, songwriter, television host, and comedian. His first big break on television was IBC-13's weekly gag show OK Lang. While Tito and Joey were already good friends, this was the first time Vic and Joey first met one another. Formation of TVJ In the mid-1970s, Joey became a co-host of the GMA Network's Saturday variety program Discorama. At that time, the show suffered from low ratings. While the show's main host Bobby Ledesma was on vacation, he asked Joey de Leon to take care of the show. He then invited his former OK Lang ''co-stars Tito, Val, and Vic to join him at ''Discorama. Only Tito and Vic accepted Joey's invitation. Combining their wits together, the trio further gained popularity in the segment Tough Hits ''where they started to do comedy newscasts interspersed with parodies of the Top 40 hits. Joey made up most of the lyrics. The new comedy saved the show from the axe of network executives. Thus, the trio known as TVJ was born. With their newfound success, the trio was also invited as pinch-hitters in ''Student Canteen. Although TVJ started in Discorama ''and Student Canteen, it was IBC-13's comedy show ''Iskul Bukol ''that gave them nationwide fame as comedians. First aired in 1978, ''Iskul Bukol resulted to more television and movie producers to come knocking on their door, including an offer from Tony Tuviera to host a new noontime show for RPN. After some negotiations, the trio accepted. As an Eat Bulaga! ''Dabarkads '''Pioneering the show' Eat Bulaga! ''premiered on July 30, 1979. Along with Chiqui Hollman and Ritchie D'Horsie, TVJ became the pioneer hosts of the television program. Joey was 32 years old at the time of the show's premiere. Joey coined the title of the show. He admitted that he drew inspiration from their rival program ''Student Canteen ''while coming up with the title. In his The Philippine Star column, he revealed: ''"I used Student Canteen as my model when I was thinking of a title for our new noontime show... Obviously, I did not follow the word “Student” — baka sabihin gaya-gaya.... I concentrated on their second word — “Canteen.” And what do you do in a canteen? Of course, EAT! And that became my appetizer to help me through until I came up with a delicious title — Eat, Bulaga!" Since then, Joey remains loyal to Eat Bulaga! ''even though no contracts bind him to the noontime program and its production company. For more than three decades, Joey de Leon has devoted his life to ''Eat Bulaga! along with Tito and Vic. Together, they remain the three pillars of the longest-running noontime show in the Philippines. The wit behind ''Eat Bulaga!'' Outside of Eat Bulaga!, he has also become a valuable personality in the overall Philippine entertainment industry for his contributions in the television, radio, music, and print media. Therefore, Joey de Leon was ultimately inducted into the Eastwood City Walk of Fame to honor his remarkable contributions with Tito Sotto and Vic Sotto. Category:Hosts Category:Pioneer Hosts Category:Dabarkads